Comparison of Beef Cattle Offal

A comparison of the health of feedlot animals fed a forage diet and feed components raised on the Growers Program, to the health of animals raised on the high energy and high fertility approach of the establishment.

Steve Swerczek and his son Brian of Cedar Rapids, Nebraska have a 300 head cow calf herd while managing 2000 acres of breeding stock pasture land and another 1900 acres of corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. Steve decided he wanted to compare the health of his feedlot animals fed a forage diet and feed components raised on the Growers Program, to the health of animals raised on the high energy and high fertility approach of the establishment.

He contacted a private consulting firm. Both animal groups were purchased in like lots, at about the same time and housed similarly. The main difference was the type of diet they received and the diet's plant tissue composition. The consulting firm's results are below: